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One of the most worn-out, underlined, check-marked, re-read books in my library is Holiness Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots by J.C. Ryle. It is clearly among my favorites. J.C. Ryle (born 1816) was the Anglican bishop of Liverpool in the late 1800's. He is remembered for his numerous books on the Christian life and for his commentaries on the four gospels....

The books of the Bible were originally written in ancient Hebrew and in 1st century Greek (with small portions written in Aramaic). Since most of us do not speak those languages, when we study the Bible, we are forced to read a translation. Among the many linguistic groups on earth, there are close to 4,000 that do not have the Bible translated into their language. But we...

Because more than 5 billion copies of Scripture have been distributed, the Bible is often referred to as the best-selling book of all time. But, technically speaking, the Bible is not a book. It is a collection of 66 books compiled into one volume. These books were composed between approximately the 8th century BCE and the 1st century CE, written in three different languag...

Sometimes people think that all sins are equally serious in the eyes of God. This conclusion is understandable. After all, the Bible states that all of us are sinners who fall short of God's glory (Rom. 3:23). It teaches that if we have broken only one of God's commandments we are condemned as lawbreakers (James 2:10). Scripture also teaches that we can sin internally even...

Years ago, in a social psychology class in college, our professor lectured us on the power of societal norms. Performing a public act that might elicit scorn or ridicule invariably causes most people to feel anxiety. We have a natural aversion to looking weird. Our assignment that day was to do something to break a social norm and write a paper detailing the physiological...

We Christians sometimes place unnecessary limits on the ways we worship God. It is understandable that, by temperament or tradition, we would each prefer certain styles of worship. Sadly, however, we sometimes cut ourselves off from the wide variety of ways God can be praised. Psalm 150, the final song in the psalter, helps to broaden our understanding of worship. The wor...

Every year, starting on October 1, a group of ACCers sets off on the journey of reading through the entire Bible over the next twelve months. We follow a daily reading plan that generally includes one passage from the Old Testament and one passage from the New Testament, working through individual books of the Bible from start to finish. Some participants choose to read on...

In 2002, a group of worshipers gathered in the basement of the Astoria Center of Israel Synagogue for the first Sunday service of Astoria Community Church. Since that day, the congregation of ACC can look back on 20 years of God's faithfulness and blessing on our church. You are invited to join us on Saturday, October 29 at 6:00pm as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of A...

Most Christians have friends and family members who have not yet come to trust Christ as their Savior. One of the most important things we can do for our unsaved loved ones is to pray for them. Here are seven ways to pray for those you love who do not yet know the Lord. 1) Pray for the Holy Spirit to show them their need for Jesus. In John 16, Jesus promised that after ...

Articles on how to read Scripture often focus on techniques daily reading plans, interpretive methods, systems of study, etc. These can all be tremendously helpful, but what I want to write about here are not techniques that make Bible-reading effective. I want to explore attitudes that make Bible-reading fruitful. What should be the attitude of our hearts when we approa...